Biding Time
by Rer21
Summary: "Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation." When someone is backstabbed it is natural for them to hate their betrayer. It isn't normal for them to want to destroy anything connected to the betrayer. Most people wouldn't hold that anger in their heart. But not Naruto Uzumaki. When he is betrayed by the man who gave him a life and purpose, he prepares. And he never forgets.
1. Chapter 1

Biding Time

Ch. 1- Chaos Reigns

Narration: Sharingan= Deus ex Machina

Talking: "Sharingan= Deus ex Machina"

Thinking: 'Sharingan=Deus ex Machina'

Ch. 1

It was a cold fall evening in the Shinobi village of Konohagakure. Its civilian population was in bed, its shinobi patrolling the village with watchful eyes. The village was peaceful and had been at a pseudo-peace for years.

Shinobi villages kept up friendly fronts with their counterparts in the other countries. This was because all shinobi villages were allied with one of the Big Five. Kiri, Iwa, Kumo, Suna, and Konoha. If say, the Kage of Kiri declared war on Takigakure, then Taki would call in its ally Konoha.

There was an unspoken agreement between the Big Five. They would not declare war on each other, in an effort to prevent each of the villages from unleashing their most powerful weapon on each other. The jinchuuriki.

They are army killers, the ultimate weapons. They are shields and swords. They are the power of human sacrifice. A jinchuuriki is created by sealing a Bijuu into a human. The process works best on children, as their body can adapt to holding the volatile chakra.

Depending on the seal That's used during the transfer process, the amount of control a jinchuuriki has over their bijuu can range from total domination to the Bijuu being able to influence and control the jinchuuriki.

But no matter how strong the seal is, there is one time where it is weakened nearly to the point of breaking. When a female jinchuuriki is giving birth. And it just so happens that on this cold night of October 10th, the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi is about to give birth in a specially prepared room outside of the village.

The room is covered with seals, all designed to pacify the raging beast sealed into the woman. There were only 4 people inside. Kushina Namikaze-Uzumaki, the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage and husband of Kushina, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the retired Sandaime Hokage and Minato's predecessor, and finally Biwako Sarutobi, Hiruzen's wife who was a trained nurse helping deliver the child.

Minato was pacing around the room, stressing out and getting even more panicked with each of his wife's screams. Hiruzen, having seen his own wife give birth twice, he could sympathize with the young man. But after a few hours, the aged kage was quite done.

Grabbing the blond Hokage, he pulled him into the next room with strength a man his age had no right to possess. "Get yourself together boy! You pacing and making your wife even more nervous isn't helping! Now calm down and act like the shinobi I named as my successor." Releasing the much calmer Minato, Hiruzen cracked a smile at hearing the screams of Kushina replaced by the cries of a baby.

Turning to a smiling Minato, Hiruzen motioned towards the room with Minato's wife and child. "It's time to see your family my son." Minato practically teleported to his wife's side. 'Maybe he really did teleport.' Hiruzen mused, thinking about Minato's Hiraishin, a technique that allowed near instantaneous teleportation.

Pushing those thoughts away Hiruzen walked in, watching the small family hold each other. Minato was kneeling by Kushina's bed, who was holding the little newborn. Kushina turned to Hiruzen, a wide smile on her face. She glowed, radiating nothing but love and happiness. But her eyes revealed how tired she was. Hiruzen knew she might sleep for the next twelve hours.

"His name is Naruto." Hiruzen looked at her in disbelief. "Kushina I know you like ramen, but naming your son after a topping is a bit much."

Kushina looked indignant. "It means maelstrom, database!" Hiruzen just nodded, not entirely convinced. "Whatever you say, dear."

"What a beautiful scene." Everyone rapidly turned to the voice. It came from a man in a long black robe. He wore a mask with a spiral design and one eyehole that revealed a Sharingan.

"You can just ignore me, I didn't want to ruin the moment." He said, leaning against a seal covered wall. Drawing a Hiraishin kunai, Minato stood in front of his family protectively. "I don't know how you knew about this location Uchiha, but if you don't leave then I'm afraid someone's going to die."

The man brought his finger to where his chin would be behind his mask. "Hm, that is accurate. But I'm afraid that I'm not going to die today Namikaze." The man charged Minato, Sharingan blazing.

Minato blocked the masked man's kunai with one of his own, trying to overpower him. "Hiruzen!" Minato called, lunging forward and grabbing the man's collar. "Guard Kushina!" He yelled before teleporting himself and the man.

Reappearing in the Forest of Death, Minato threw the man into one of the nearby trees. The masked man regained balance midair and landed smoothly on a tree, standing horizontally with basic chakra control. Minato didn't allow him to rest for even a second.

He dashed towards him, jumping from branch to branch, throwing kunai the whole time. But the masked man met each knife with one of his own, pulling them from pockets inside his robes. Landing in front of the mysterious figure, Minato jumped towards him, a fully formed Rasengan in hand.

Leaning out of the orb's way he kicked Minato in the back, sending the Hokage into a tree. The masked nin reached for a kunai but froze, before chuckling. "Well, it seems I've stalled you long enough. I've got to run." He said as if he was late to an appointment. A distortion in the air appeared from nowhere in between Minato and the masked man.

The man walked towards the distortion and waved towards Minato. Before he reached it he called out, "I am sorry about your wife, she seemed lovely." Minato's eyes widened. Ignoring Minato's reaction the man jumped into the now fully-formed portal.

Focusing on a Hiraishin marker he left on Kushina, Minato teleported, reappearing in the sealing room. Looking around he fell to his knees, overcome with grief.

In one corner, Hiruzen lay unconscious, most likely from a genjutsu. By the bed, Biwako lay dead, a kunai stuck in her stomach. On top of the bead was Naruto, crying for attention. Kushina was nowhere to be found.

Before Minato could do anything, he heard a loud roar from outside the room. Looking outside, Minato's heart sank. Standing over 300 feet tall, the Kyuubi no Kitsune in its full glory was standing in the middle of the Forest of Death.

Minato couldn't understand how everything could go so wrong. 'For the Kyuubi to be fully manifested... Its jinchuuriki would have to have been killed.' Pushing all thoughts of the death of his wife from his mind, Minato knew he had to think fast.

'There is a time to be weak, and there is a time to be strong. Right now, my village needs me.' Steeling his heart Minato ran inside and carefully picked up Naruto. "Naruto," Minato said, his voice cracking, "I love you so much. If I thought there was any other way, I would take it in a heartbeat. But there isn't one."

"You may be hated, you may be ignored. But I know that you'll overcome anything that will ever face." Minato wiped a tear from his eyes, before teleporting to a Hiraishin marker by the village gates.

His ninja had been alerted and were swarming towards the tailed beast, which was less than five hundred feet from the village. Water dragons, earth spikes, and a plethora of other jutsu were launched towards the behemoth. All to no avail.

Amplifying his voice with chakra, Minato stood forward and yelled to his men. "Stand back! I need room!" Within a few moments, all that stood between Konoha and the Kyuubi was Minato Namikaze.

The Fox noticed the sudden lack of shinobi and saw it as a clear path to its target. It roared, before running on all fours towards the village.

Quickly placing Naruto on the ground, Minato ran through the hand seals for the only jutsu that could save his village. Before the last seal, Minato gave his son one last look. "I love you son..." He whispered, his voice heard by no one but himself.

The Kyuubi was less than a hundred feet away when Minato finished the final seal. "Sealing Jutsu: Reaper Death Seal!" In a fraction of a second, Minato felt something grab a hold of something deep within himself. He watched as he was pulled out of his body, and into the mouth of the Shinigami himself.

As soon as Minato was consumed, the death god teleported in front of the Kyuubi and grabbed it by its neck. It dragged it towards the only suitable host; the newborn laying on the ground behind it. 'Sorry about this kid.' The ancient god thought to itself, before pushing the Fox towards the boy.

As the fox neared its soon-to-be jailor, it began to deteriorate into the iconic red bijuu chakra. The energy flowed into the baby's stomach, where a seal glowed bright red. In seconds the bijuu was fully sealed and the Shinigami disappeared.

The moment both entities were gone, Naruto began to wail with a passion, crying out for any to hear. The shinobi, seeing the Kyuubi disappear, jumped towards the site where Minato died. Upon reaching the location, they were quite surprised to see a naked baby with a glowing seal on its stomach lying next to their dead Hokage.

One of the jonin at the scene picked the child up and began to order the lower ranking nin to pick up dead and wounded. The ninja holding Naruto shunshined to the hospital, while the remaining ninja went through the forest picking up wounded and counting the dead.

That next morning, a meeting was called by the now-recovered Sandaime Hokage. As Hiruzen entered the room where the meeting was to be held, he watched as all the gathered parties were already arguing and debating. Walking towards the seat at the head of the long table they used for meetings like these, Hiruzen observed the people within the room.

The only people allowed to voice opinions and vote on matters concerning the village were Clan Heads, as well as both the jonin and ANBU Commanders. Hiruzen abolished the Civilian Council long ago, annoyed with how they thought they had any say in how he, the Hokage, could run his SHINOBI village.

Hiruzen sat down in his seat and slammed his hands on the table. "QUIET! ALL OF YOU!" Nearly everyone jumped back. They weren't dealing with the venerable, retired Hokage. This was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the God of Shinobi.

Seeing that everyone was now silent, Hiruzen continued. "Now I'm sure you have all heard the news by now. Minato, my successor, has fallen in battle against the Kyuubi." This really wasn't news to many as nearly every clan had been fighting against the bijuu. Even the ones who hadn't had heard from friends who were fighting about how he was found dead next to a crying baby with a seal on its stomach.

"He sacrificed himself to seal the Kyuubi into a newborn child." As expected, the Clan Heads rose to their feet, some crying for execution, others for him to be taken in by their personal clan. But Hiruzen was in no mood for any of this.

He once again slammed his fist on the table. "YOU ARE SHINOBI! Act like it!" As the room quieted down. Fugaku Uchiha rose to his feet. "Hokage-sama, if we gain custody over the boy, we will shape him into a perfect weapon for Konoha."

Other clan heads stood up as well, arguing that their own clan should be the one to take the jinchuuriki in. Hiruzen sighed, rubbing his temple. "ENOUGH! The boy is to be a neutral party, not manipulated by a clan. He will remain in the orphanage until he is old enough to live on his own. Then he will be taken to an orphanage, and no clan adopts him."

Seeing the clan heads begrudgingly agreed, he moved on to the next topic. "As Minato has died, I will be taking over as Hokage, that is until I find a suitable replacement. Now, I know you've all lost someone. But we are Konoha Shinobi! We will endure, and we will recover. May the Will of Fire live on."

And with that, the council was dismissed. Hiruzen stood up, using a shunshin to appear in his office. Walking over to his desk, he pulled out his hidden sake and special burley tobacco. "For my wife, my successor, and my men." Hiruzen whispered taking a swig of sake straight from the bottle and lighting his pipe.

Channeling chakra to a communication seal, Hiruzen called an ANBU into his office. The black op kneeled in front of his kage. "Hare, I need you to get me Jiraiya. I don't care what he's doing, I want him here."

The ANBU disappeared in a tornado of leaves, leaving Hiruzen alone with his thoughts. His mind raced, considering all the consequences of an attack like this.

The biggest was that other villages might not fear Konoha, knowing that the bijuu that once kept its enemies at bay was trapped in a child. There was also the matter of Minato dying. Hiruzen was once a god amongst men, but his time had passed. He was getting old, and Konoha's enemies would take advantage of the both the weaker Hokage, and potentially the lack of confidence from within.

It wouldn't take much for some to be convinced that Konoha was weak and to believe it to be safer to throw in their lot with another village. Hiruzen needed to appear strong and to do that the kind grandfather had to leave forever. It was once again time for the God of Shinobi.

The final problem was that people had a face for the Kyuubi. Before with Kushina, no one knew who the container was, allowing her to live a safe and happy life. Now, people knew Naruto was the jinchuuriki. That meant people had a person to blame for the Kyuubi, and other villages knew who to assassinate if they wanted to cripple Konoha.

Hiruzen stopped his train of thought when a broken-looking Jiraiya appeared in his office. "What do you want sensei?" Jiraiya spat out, reeking of alcohol. Hiruzen sighed before walking over to his student. Using a simple poison purging jutsu he cleared all the alcohol from the man.

Jiraiya let out a ragged breath before plopping on the couch next to Hiruzen's desk. "Why sensei!? How could this even happen?"

Keeping the knowledge of the mystery Uchiha to himself, Hiruzen spun a quick lie. "Kushina died in childbirth. Minato used Naruto to seal the Kyuubi.

In his tired and emotionally drained state, Jiraiya just nodded dumbly. "But the reason I called you here was that I want your sealing expertise." Hiruzen said, getting a strange look from Jiraiya.

"What for?" He asked, suspicious about his sensei's true motives. "Look Jiraiya, Konoha is weaker than it's been in a long time. We can't afford anything happening to the jinchuuriki. So you are going to put some seals on the child.

Jiraiya stood up at once, anger etched onto his face. "Sensei! How could you-" Jiraiya's words died in his throat as he felt a huge wave of killing intent coming from his sensei.

"That was an order, jonin," Hiruzen said, a dangerous edge in his voice. Jiraiya nodded. "Fine sensei, get an ANBU to bring him here."

In a few minutes, an ANBU appeared with Naruto. After he left, Jiraiya pulled some ink and a brush from a hidden seal in his vest.

"What seals?" All emotion was gone from Jiraiya, replaced by indifference. It was a trick that all high ranked ninja used, but it was just that. A trick.

Simply telling yourself that something didn't affect you wouldn't stop it. Pain can't be wished away. Especially the emotional kind. All you could do was lock it away.

But Hiruzen had been locking it away for decades, and now he felt nothing. "I want an inhibitor seal to limit chakra output. A loyalty seal that will guarantee his allegiance. A paralysis seal in case he breaks free, and an execution seal if that doesn't work."

Jiraiya wordlessly drew the seals on his newborn godson. In a few minutes, the seal master was done. Carefully placing Naruto in the basket he was carried in on, he looked at the man he once saw as a father. "Good-bye sensei."

Hiruzen sighed as one of the last people he cared for left the village. While his student wouldn't go, rogue, it would take a crisis to get him back in the village.

Looking towards the baby on his desk Hiruzen collapsed into his chair. 'I am far too old for this.'

* * *

Hello, all! I'm sorry for the long hiatus, but I've been having major writer's block. Writing gamer fics is very time-consuming for me and takes almost five times as long to do as a 'regular' story. This will definitely not be a gamer fic, and I have a feeling I won't be touching my other fics for a while.

But nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for reading. Have a wonderful day.


	2. Chapter 2- Paradidomi

Biding Time

Ch. 2-Paradidomi

Narration: Sharingan= Deus ex Machina

Talking: "Sharingan= Deus ex Machina"

Thinking: 'Sharingan=Deus ex Machina'

Last Time on Biding Time:

Looking towards the baby on his desk Hiruzen collapsed into his chair. 'I am far too old for this.'

Ch. 2

-12 Years Later-

It was the final day of school in the Konoha Shinobi Academy. For the oldest students, it was the day that they would see if they had what it takes to become genin.

They'd been learning everything from theory, history, to practical skills for three years. All their training came down to a single, three-part test.

The test had a written, ninjutsu, and physical portion, which each counted as a third of your grade. While the grade didn't dictate who passed, it was used to rank the ninja within the graduating class.

The test would be administered by the chunin instructors Iruka Umino and Mizuki. Their classroom was full of excited and nervous kids, all of them hoping today would be the day they'd graduate and begin their careers as ninja.

There was only one empty seat, and it belonged to Naruto Uzumaki. The troublemaker was widely regarded as a bad influence by kids and a demon in human form by the adults. Most shinobi realized he wasn't the bijuu, but even they saw him as a weapon.

Naruto was currently across town, running as fast as his little legs could carry him. He had less than five minutes to be in his seat or he'd be marked late. The problem was that he was almost ten minutes away.

'Iruka says that a little chakra can make you stronger.' The blonde kid thought to himself. 'It's worth a shot.'

Channeling way more chakra than was needed, Naruto jumped about two stories high onto a roof. 'Uh-oh!' He thought to himself before face planting on the roof of a grocery store.

Peeling himself off the roof, he channeled chakra to his legs, this time using far less. With his chakra under control, Naruto began to hop from roof to roof, traveling to the Academy.

He made it to the building in two minutes, before running to his classroom. Bursting through the door he practically teleported to his seat with thirty seconds to spare.

Iruka looked at his favorite student with a look of despair and relief. "Naruto, could you please explain why you were almost late to your exam."

Naruto stroked his chin, before answering in a voice that was eerily similar to a silver-haired jonin. "I was lost on the road of life Iruka-sensei."

Within the shinobi district of Konoha, a loud sneeze was heard from the apartment of Kakashi Hatake.

Iruka shook his head, not wanting to know how much Kakashi had corrupted the boy. Picking up a stack of papers, he began to hand out the written exam.

The written portion lasted for an hour and a half. Naruto struggled, but he was sure that a lack of knowledge history wouldn't doom him if he got high marks in practical skills.

After Iruka and Mizuki picked the papers, they brought the students outside, where they tested everything from stamina, to hand-to-hand, to even trap making.

It was here where Naruto excelled, beating everyone except Sasuke, the Last Uchiha. This got him a few surprised looks as most expected the dead last to fail here too.

Naruto's heart sank with the next test; ninjutsu. All you had to do was perform three basic jutsu to pass. The transformation, replacement, and clone jutsu.

All you needed was basic chakra control to perform the techniques, which meant it was a simple test to past for the average Academy student.

Chakra control came easily to those with small reserves, as control over a small amount of energy is simple. But the larger your chakra pool, the harder it is to control it and let out the exact amount you need.

Naruto had more chakra reserves than anyone in the class, including the teachers. He'd asked Iruka why, but he said it was probably his genes. Nonetheless, Naruto had abysmal control.

That's why no one was surprised when Naruto barely performed the henge and replacement jutsu, and absolutely failed the clone jutsu portion.

His clone was pale and sickly, barely resembling Naruto, much less posing as the perfect copy it was meant to be.

With a barely hidden grin, Mizuki said the three words Naruto hoped he'd never hear again. "You fail, Naruto."

That afternoon, Naruto was slowly making his way home, all his dreams crushed and killed. 'I'll never become Hokage. The villagers were right.'

As he was walking, Naruto noticed that he was being followed. Mizuki-sensei was tailing him from the rooftops.

Naruto stopped and waved to him, surprising the chunin who never would've thought an Academy student could see him.

Mizuki hopped down next to him and gave him a sad smile. "Naruto, I' sorry about today, and I've decided on a way for you to get another shot."

Naruto instantly perked up, excited at the prospect of redeeming himself and becoming a ninja of the Leaf.

"I need you to sneak into the Hokage Tower and get a very special scroll." And so Mizuki told Naruto all the details for his 'test'. Where the scroll was, what to do if he was caught, and even where to meet him to deliver the scroll.

Mizuki grinned as he watched Naruto soak up all his words like a sponge, never even considering that the chunin instructor was using him. 'It's too easy.'

-That Night-

Naruto had just successfully recovered the scroll and was now waiting by the Forest of Death for Mizuki to arrive. No alarms had been sounded, and the boy had gotten out without anyone detecting him. 'I'll definitely pass!'

But it' had been almost twenty minutes, and Mizuki still hadn't shown up, and Naruto was starting to get bored. 'I'll just take a peek. It won't hurt.' And with that Naruto placed the scroll on his lap.

It was titled the Scroll of Secrets, and it contained a list of what appeared to be high-level jutsu. 'I'll become Hokage in no time with one of these! Hmm, what first?'

All the jutsu looked interesting, but some were immediately crossed out. Genjustu was a no-go, as was the Shadow Clone. 'I can't imagine how hard that would be if I can't do a regular clone. I 'll try the Nature Shift: Lightning.'

Reading the description, Naruto learned that the technique attuned someone to lightning, making them invulnerable to it, and giving them incredible control over it.

All you had to do was complete the hand seals, slam your hands on the ground. 'This is easy, why doesn't everyone do this?'

Naruto went through the hand seals, making sure to perform each one perfectly. After completing the last one, he slammed his hands on the ground and screamed as he felt his chakra being sucked out.

He watched as storm clouds gathered overhead, appearing in seconds. They were dark and heavy, blocking out the entire sky. After a few seconds, they began to crackle with electricity, the lightning jumping from cloud to cloud.

The pulses of lightning sped up until there was so much electricity flowing there was no room for more energy. And so, all of the lightning shot down towards one person. Naruto.

He screamed as he felt his skin melt, the intense heat burning his skin. Within his head, he could hear a voice screaming. 'I WON'T DIE LIKE THIS!' Suddenly, Naruto felt even more pain.

His previously empty chakra coils were being filled with chakra once again, but it wasn't from a natural source. This was red, nothing like the blue chakra that all living things naturally produce. It was also corrosive, burning him and filling him with an ungodly amount of power.

If someone else was watching this, they would see seals painted across Naruto's back glow brightly before disappearing, the immense chakra overloading and destroying them

Naruto was a human battery, being filled with power beyond belief. But like all batteries, he could only hold so much. Subconsciously, he knew that he had to use the power somehow.

Grabbing a hold of both the corrosive red chakra and the lightning chakra, he spoke two words. "Heal me." He gasped, the pain threatening to push him into unconsciousness.

And both energy sources responded to his will. The pain stopped, and only then did Naruto notice the storm had stopped and he was still glowing with electricity.

He glowed brightly, his skin healing at an unheard of rate. Naruto had always healed fast, but nothing like this. He was literally watching his skin heal before his eyes. Where before he had blackened skin, there were now zero marks.

He was in perfect condition, not a single wound or burn left on him. The red chakra was also gone, as was the majority of the lightning chakra.

'What just happened!?' Naruto thought, thinking back to the corrosive red chakra. But before he could put more thought into it, Naruto heard sirens going off in the village. 'It must've been the storm! It alerted the village!'

Naruto paled. 'What if I'm failed for attracting attention!?' The boy collapsed against a tree, scroll in hand.

Physically, he was perfectly fine. But he was drained emotionally and mentally. The day was filled with so many highs and lows, and after everything he went through, it might be for nothing.

The crashing of nearby branches alerted Naruto. He stood up, kunai in hand, ready to defend himself. But to his surprise, it was a worn and ragged Mizuki who appeared in the clearing.

He was breathing hard, and upon spotting Naruto he drew a windmill shuriken from his back. "Naruto, give me the damn scroll!"

Quickly picking up the scroll Naruto ran towards the instructor, oblivious of his true intentions. Before he could go far, he was interrupted by another person in the clearing.

It was Iruka, who was breathing like he'd just run a marathon. "It's a trap Naruto! Mizuki is using you!"

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. 'How could I be so dumb! Of course, he didn't care. He was just using me.' Naruto thought to himself, disappointed that he fell for something so obvious.

But the disappointment turned to anger. Naruto looked at Mizuki with a cold stare. "You know, I could always just say I killed you in self-defence."

Mizuki laughed. "Please kid, you failed everything but combat, and that was against Academy students. What chance do you have against an elite ninja?"

Naruto said nothing and calmly walked towards Mizuki, channeling what was left of the lightning chakra to his right hand, while clutching the scroll in his left.

Mizuki and Iruka didn't notice the chakra, and both thought he would hand over the scroll without a fight.

"Ah, good job Naruto. Maybe you weren't as dumb as everyone thought." Mizuki sneered holding his hand out for Naruto to hand over the scroll.

Iruka eyes widened, shocked that Naruto would just give the traitor what he wanted. "Don't do it Naruto!"

But the boy ignored him, walking at the same pace. Mizuki walked towards him, trying to finish this up quickly.

When Naruto was within three feet of Mizuki, he pushed every remaining ounce of lightning chakra left into his palm.

Pointing at Mizuki with his open palm, Naruto released his hold on the chakra. From Naruto's hand exploded a beam of lightning, launching Mizuki's body flying.

He bounced between trees and landed in a heap in a bush.

Calmly walking over to where he landed, Naruto crouched by the man's smoldering body. Spitting on the corpse, he whispered to himself. "I'll never be fooled again."

It was here where something in Naruto changed. He vowed to never be a pawn again. He would be the mastermind. He would be the one pulling the strings.

As Naruto stood up, he looked Iruka in the eyes. He radiated apathy, a perfect mask of indifference covered his face. "We will bury him. If anyone asks, he fled after trying to get the scroll from the two of us. If questioned further, say you found me here alone with the scroll. You will say Mizuki made me steal the scroll and it was his plan. Do you understand?"

Iruka looked at him in shock. Where was the boy who put a smile on his face every day? Where was the kid who screamed about becoming Hokage? Where was the Naruto he knew? But Iruka knew the answer. He was dead. His innocence gone. His naivety vanished. His smile replaced. This was the face of someone who'd been crossed one too many times. One who'd given out his last chance.

Iruka shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I refuse to lie to the Hokage."

Naruto shook his head. "Then I'm sorry Umino because that makes you a threat. And I don't tolerate threats."

Reaching deep, the blonde drew on his newfound red chakra. He was covered by it, and it granted him power unimaginable.

Iruka took a step back, drawing a kunai. "Stay back Naruto! I don't want to hurt you!" The boy scoffed, calmly walking towards the chunin. "It's you who should be scared." Naruto lunged towards Iruka, slamming a chakra enhanced fist into his stomach.

The red chakra burned the area around the impact, destroying the cloth and burning skin. Iruka screamed in pain, but it didn't stop Naruto.

With his other hand, he wrenched the kunai out of Iruka's hand and quickly ended his life with a rapid stab to the heart.

Releasing the chakra, Naruto dropped the body of Iruka in shock. He felt like his mind was in a haze, and he had an insatiable bloodlust. Fighting the tears, Naruto said a quick prayer for the man who'd taught him so much.

After a few minutes, Mizuki had been buried and the grave had been carefully hidden. Naruto could hear the sirens blaring and knew that he was in a serious predicament.

If he went back to the village, he would be interrogated, and he had a very small chance of being released. He was technically a civilian still, and thus he would be tried as a civilian. He stole the Scroll of Seals, was the only known suspect in the death of a chunin, and there were probably more things the biased civilians would try to get him executed for.

But if he left the village, he would be branded a criminal, yet not a missing-nin. The only possible threat from the village would be from hunter-nin, which were far easier to escape from then an entire village.

As he considered the options, he realized that the latter was the obvious choice. He could defend himself well-enough, and years of living off of scraps made him quite resourceful. He was also a hard-worker and was sure he would have no problem starting a new life somewhere.

The only thing left to decide was what to do with the Scroll of Seals. It contained powerful jutsu, the kind only high-jonin had access to. If he brought it with him, he'd be hunted by ANBU Black Ops, the highest rank one could achieve outside of Kage.

But if he left it, he'd be giving up power that most would risk death to achieve. However, it just wasn't worth it. Most of the Jutsu required skill far above his level, and he'd be captured and executed in days.

So he left the scroll by Iruka and turned to the forest. Taking a deep breath, he hardened his features and began to run.

-3 days later-

-Morning-

It'd been three days since his escape, and Naruto was running through the forest. He was getting quite aggravated by the lack of change in the forest. It was big trees, big trees, and if you looked hard enough, you could spot more big trees.

'If I'm in here any longer I'm going to bring lightning down on this damn forest!' Naruto thought to himself, wishing he was anywhere else but here.

This was something Naruto realized he could actually do. He had the ability to conjure and manipulate lightning. The only downsides were that it required chakra, and it was pretty taxing. The good news was that after a good night's sleep his chakra coil would be completely full.

He hadn't tried to access the red chakra again, as whenever he used it he became irrationally angry, and the chakra burned his skin and nearly melted his clothes. He also felt extremely guilty about killing Iruka, as the man had been like a father to him.

But because of that awful red chakra, Naruto ended his life.

The chakra felt evil, and it was like a drug. But Naruto refused to be manipulated, especially by something from within himself.

Naruto continued on walking, stopping when he heard yells coming from a dirt road within the forest. Crouching, he hid behind a tree. He poked a head out and saw a group of two men pulling along a teenager.

The men were tall, and muscled, easily dragging the lanky teenager behind them. They wore civilian clothes but carried swords on their hips.

The teen was being taken against his will and was struggling and thrashing against the rope wrapped around his hands. "I'll kill you all! You destroyed my village you bastards!"

The two men just laughed, not even fazed by the boy's yelling. 'They're bandits!' Naruto realized. He knew they were civilians by how they carried themselves. They may have been strong, but they stood no chance against him.

Quietly dashing from tree to tree, he stalked them, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. His moment came when one of the grunts handed his length of rope to his companion before walking off to pee. Naruto drew a kunai from a pouch on his hip.

In a mix of stealth and speed, Naruto snuck up behind the mountain of a man. He jumped on his back and quickly slit the man's thick neck. His cries alerted the other bandit, who drew his sword.

As quickly as he could, the bandit tied the teen to a tree branch before rushing to where he last saw the other bandit. But it took long enough that Naruto had time to pull the blade from the dead man's scabbard and hide behind a nearby tree.

The second bandit quickly found the man's body and took a step back in shock. He backed up against a tree, and unfortunately for him it was the same tree Naruto had been hiding behind.

The boy sank his blade into the side of the man's head, killing him instantly. The boy cleaned his newly acquired sword with the second bandit's shirt. He also looted his new sword's sheath, as well as the second bandit's weapon and sheath.

Walking over to the teen, Naruto was a terrifying sight. Imagine seeing a boy wearing a blood-stained kill-me-orange jumpsuit walk up to you holding your captor's weapons, one of which is covered in their blood.

Naruto inwardly smirked at the reaction he got from the older boy. He was backed up against the tree, pleading that Naruto not kill him.

Wanting to have a bit of fun, Naruto raised his blade at swung it towards the teen. The teen flinched and closed his eyes, waiting for the deathblow.

But death never came. The teen opened up one eye and saw that the blade landed above his head, slicing the rope that held him.

Naruto laughed, before cutting the rope around the older boy's hands with a kunai. He looked at Naruto with awe and admiration, before falling on his knees.

"Thank you, sir! I vow to serve you for the rest of my life!" The teen proclaimed, causing Naruto to sweat drop.

"Um... Thanks?" Naruto said, deeply confused by the teen's reaction. "What's your name?"

The teen brightened at Naruto 'accepting' his request. "My name is Daisuke! I live to serve you, young master!" Naruto looked at Daisuke in disbelief. But he also got his first good look at him.

He was tall, a good six feet. He was thin and built like a runner. His skin was pale enough that he could be mistaken for a vampire. He had a kind face, with green eyes and black hair put into a ponytail.

"Daisuke, what happened with the bandits? I overheard something about your village?" Naruto asked.

A streak of anger flashed across Daisuke's face before it settled on a frosty indifference, the same Naruto used.

"My village was attacked by the Bandits of the Red Streak. They were led by Kazu the Red Streak, a missing-nin famous for being able to ignite weapons with fire. They attacked my village, capturing those he could, and killing any who stood in his way." Daisuke could barely continue, his mask of indifference cracking to show the 14-year-old boy who just lost everything.

His face was a perfect storm of anger and sadness, coming together to create pure hatred for the man who ruined his life.

Naruto shook Daisuke a bit, getting the much taller boy's attention. "Where is he now Daisuke?"

"In the village's ruins." He muttered, overcome by unpleasant emotion." Naruto smiled kindly. "Good, then he'll be easy to find."

The boy looked at him in shock, the statement so crazy it shocked him out of his stupor. "Wh-what!? Why would you want to do that!?" The boy asked incredulously, absolutely unable to understand why anyone would want to even see that despicable man.

Naruto looked at him straight in the eyes. His next words were said with such certainty he could've said they were going to fly and Daisuke would've believed him.

"We're going to assassinate Kazu the Red Streak."

* * *

I hope you enjoyed ch. 2!

 **Some key things to know:**

 **-Naruto is one of the only people who could've survived a forced Nature Transformation. Kurama is the ONLY reason he is alive. The Transformation remade his old body, making new organs, bones, and muscles. Kuram basically worked overtime to make sure his container healed fast enough toio survive things like momentarily having no heart, lungs, or skin. (Not everything was remade at the same time)**

 **-Kurama's chakra is a lot more potent. Even without using a full tail, the bloodlust drove Naruto to kill Iruka, who was a father-figure to him.**

 **-Naruto doesn't know about the seals from Jiraiya, or that he's the container of Kurama.**

 **-The seals from Jiraiya are totally gone. Not even a single Kanji is left of them. Naruto is for all intents and purposes in a new body, but Kurama is stuck with him because the Reaper Death Seal works this way: Kurama is tied to Naruto's soul. If the soul passes on (Death), the link is broken and the fox is free. If the soul goes somewhere besides the afterlife then so does Kurama. (This was just a reference, Naruto's soul didn't go anywhere; his body was just remade and improved.**

 **Thanks for reading, have a wonderful day!**


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